A runner tends to follow the success of others in the same grueling sport as they. Many young cross country and track trainees can be found reading articles and quotes about people such as Steve Prefontaine, Frank Shorter, Alberto Salazar, Deena Kastor, Bill Bowerman, Paula Radcliffe, Ryan Hall, etc. Everyone has their role models that they wish to be like. And it is very true that lots of running wisdom can be found in the words of great people like these. However, much of the inspiration and motivation we need can be found in the acts of the smallest people in our society: the children.
In A Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life, Amby Burfoot says, "Watch a group of children on the playground...When they play games like tag, they run for a while, with squeals of delight, and then rest until they are recovered again. Run and rest, run and rest. It is the perfect exercise program because it is coded in our genes. It is what our forefathers did millions of years ago."
How true is that? We spend hours and days working out what our workouts should be. What we want our time splits to be next time we run our track exercise. How fast we want to run our pickups on our next long run. Some of us spend a great amount of time searching all over the running world for the best, most efficient workout we can get. What we don't realize is that the best workout we could ever come up with has already been invented, tested, and played out by children. They never stop running, unless they have to rest or make some sort of emergency stop. They don't wake up and say to themselves, "Okay. Today looks like a nice day. I think I'll go play some tag with Billy, and every five minutes, I'll pick it up a little. And then for the last five minutes, I'll do a few sixty-second strides." Children don't live by planning things out. They wing it, and it works.
So, if we want a simple, effective workout, all we need to do is remember this: The best runner in the world is the one who never stops running. If you really love something, and you want to get better at it, you're not going to want to stop. So get out there, my running friends, and don't come back until you need to.
In A Runner's Guide to the Meaning of Life, Amby Burfoot says, "Watch a group of children on the playground...When they play games like tag, they run for a while, with squeals of delight, and then rest until they are recovered again. Run and rest, run and rest. It is the perfect exercise program because it is coded in our genes. It is what our forefathers did millions of years ago."
How true is that? We spend hours and days working out what our workouts should be. What we want our time splits to be next time we run our track exercise. How fast we want to run our pickups on our next long run. Some of us spend a great amount of time searching all over the running world for the best, most efficient workout we can get. What we don't realize is that the best workout we could ever come up with has already been invented, tested, and played out by children. They never stop running, unless they have to rest or make some sort of emergency stop. They don't wake up and say to themselves, "Okay. Today looks like a nice day. I think I'll go play some tag with Billy, and every five minutes, I'll pick it up a little. And then for the last five minutes, I'll do a few sixty-second strides." Children don't live by planning things out. They wing it, and it works.
So, if we want a simple, effective workout, all we need to do is remember this: The best runner in the world is the one who never stops running. If you really love something, and you want to get better at it, you're not going to want to stop. So get out there, my running friends, and don't come back until you need to.